READING 4 Football and Soccer

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots runs with the ball during a football game against the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo, New York, U.S.

FOOTBALL and SOCCER

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 12.6

It may seem strange that Americans give the name “football” to a game played mostly by throwing and carrying a ball with one’s hands. Speakers of a language other than English usually refer to this sport as American football, but in the United States, it’s simply football.

Many of the rules in soccer and football are the same. In both games, there are 11 players on each side, and a team scores its points by getting the ball past the goal of the other team. The playing fields for both sports are also very much alike.

When the action begins, the two games look very different. In addition to using their feet, soccer players are allowed to hit the ball with their heads. In football, the only person allowed to touch the ball with his feet is a special player known as the kicker. Also, in football, tackling1 the player who has the ball is not only allowed but encouraged, whereas2 tackling in soccer will get the tackler thrown out of the game.

Football players and soccer players don’t dress alike or even look alike in many ways. Since blocking and tackling are a big part of American football, the players are often very large and muscular and wear heavy padding and helmets. Soccer players, on the other hand, are usually thinner and wear shorts and polo shirts. This gives them more freedom of movement so that they can show off the fancy footwork that makes soccer such a popular game around the world.

1 tackling: knocking a player to the ground 2 whereas: in contrast